MP Materials (NYSE:MP) Shares Down 4.8% – Here’s Why

Shares of MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) dropped 4.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $49.25 and last traded at $50.4740. Approximately 6,797,738 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 6,719,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of MP Materials in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wedbush raised their target price on MP Materials from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $82.00 price target on MP Materials in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays started coverage on MP Materials in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $69.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of MP Materials in a report on Friday, June 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.14.

MP Materials Stock Down 4.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 6.58, a current ratio of 7.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a PE ratio of -120.18 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.42.

MP Materials (NYSE:MP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $90.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.82 million. MP Materials had a negative return on equity of 2.27% and a negative net margin of 28.00%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MP Materials Corp. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other MP Materials news, CFO Ryan Corbett sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 109,017 shares in the company, valued at $8,176,275. The trade was a 15.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Michael Stuart Rosenthal purchased 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $56.62 per share, with a total value of $962,540.00. Following the purchase, the chief operating officer owned 1,333,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,512,565.26. This trade represents a 1.29% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,205,167 shares of company stock valued at $79,371,654. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in MP Materials by 26.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 234,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after purchasing an additional 49,052 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MP Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of MP Materials during the 1st quarter worth $219,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 10,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MP Materials by 36.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 193,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,348 shares during the last quarter. 52.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MP Materials

MP Materials Corporation operates as a vertically integrated producer of rare earth materials in North America. The company owns and manages the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility in California, the only commercially viable rare earth mining and processing site in the United States. MP Materials extracts, separates and refines critical rare earth elements—such as neodymium, praseodymium, and cerium—which are essential inputs for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and various defense applications.

The Mountain Pass mine first began commercial rare earth production in the 1950s and was later operated by Molycorp until its bankruptcy in 2015.